


Blades

by Madifishy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Blades, Confidence, Daggers, Developing Friendships, Dorks, Duelling, Encouragement, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gay, Gay Keith (Voltron), Gay Male Character, Gay Shiro (Voltron), Humor, Knives, Lions, M/M, Struggling with Inadequacy, Swords, Swordsmanship, Teaching, Training, Weapons, red lion - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2019-01-05 14:43:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12191925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madifishy/pseuds/Madifishy
Summary: Just throwing this out there right now; this isn't a super duper fluffy story (I don't really see Keith as a super duper fluffy character). For the most part, this is Shiro teaching Keith the proper form for wielding a weapon. I did put fluff in the tags, however, because I feel like that to a certain extent this can be considered fluff.Kept it short and sweet, enjoy!





	Blades

**Author's Note:**

> A lot of people enjoyed my last Voltron work, so I decided to make another!
> 
> Comments and kudos are much appreciated! Thank you for reading and supporting my work!

"No, you're almost there, but you need to slice forward more, force your arm forward with the blade."

 

Keith clenched his teeth and his knuckles, until his knuckles turned white. "I'm doing  _exactly_ what you're saying, and I  _still_ can't do it right."

 

"You can do it right", Shiro assured him, "You just need guidance and practice."

 

It had been hours since Shiro had decided that Keith's blade-wielding could use some work. He had taken Keith down to the training deck, and was still teaching him how to properly hold and fight with a sword, in order to be the most effective with the weapon. "With any handheld blade, try to imagine it as an extension of your arm. Wherever your arm goes, the blade will go. So if you want to force the weapon forward, bring the arm forward with enough force to drive the entire blade forward with it." Shiro instructed, gently tapping the bottom of Keith's arm, signaling him to raise his blade slightly higher.

 

"Why is this so difficult for me?" Keith shouted, dropping his blade, allowing it to clatter loudly onto the floor. "I'll never be any better at this! This is as good as I'm going to get!"

 

Shiro frowned. He hated it when any of the other paladins got angry, and he disliked it even more when one of the other paladins got angry at him. "Keith, that isn't true and you know it."

 

"It is true Shiro. Stop feeding me optimistic lies about how I can do better. I can't. What you see is what you get." Keith flopped down on the floor at the far end of the training deck, leaning his head back against the wall, closing his eyes. Shiro slowly and silently seated himself next to Keith, looking at the expression on the younger paladin's face. Keith was being too hard on himself; everybody knew it, nobody was really willing to admit it. He pushed himself too hard, and refused to believe that he could do any better. Then when it came time to battle, he'd push himself so far that he would nearly get himself killed; something which could be avoidable with a little more training.

 

 "Keith, I know this is difficult. But I know that you can do it. The red lion has always chosen paladins that have extreme skill in agility and combat. The red lion chose you, and the lions don't choose wrong. You have the ability to learn this, and I know it."

 

"Maybe it chose wrong."

 

Shiro sighed. "Keith, you and I both know that the lions  _don't_ choose wrong."

 

Keith tilted his head back against the wall, looking up at the ceiling. "I know."

 

Shiro stood, and offered his hand to Keith. "Give it another go?"

 

Keith took his hand, and Shiro pulled him to his feet. They returned to the center of the training platform and Keith picked up the blade.

 

"Like this", Shiro instructed, moving Keith's hand, wrapping the paladin's fingers around the handle, and angling his arm appropriately. Keith couldn't help but notice how gentle Shiro was being. Considering he was the leader, he had always been very level-headed. He remained calm in almost every situation, and never got upset when somebody did wrong. 

 

Shiro held his hand over Keith's hand, his arm following into each swish of the blade. Keith couldn't help but notice how warm Shiro's touch was. Shiro's hand was firmly held over his own, yet it didn't feel like he was holding his hand too tighly. And as their arms pressed together with each shift of the blade, Keith noticed how Shiro's arms were slightly longer than his own, Shiro being slightly taller and much more built than himself. 

 

"Got that?"

 

Keith was snatched away from his thoughts. "Yeah, got it", he lied. 

 

"Good. Now try it on your own", Shiro instructed, taking a step back. 

 

Keith felt his palms get sweaty, but he remained calm. He could do this. He lunged forward, blade in hand, forcing it forward as though it were an extension of his own arm, he pulled the blade toward himself and swiveled around to face the other direction, striking down from above, before quickly bringing the weapon back up. He repeated this several times, with varying levels of success, until Shiro held up his hand, motioning for Keith to stop.

 

"That was perfect", Shiro declared, a small smile forming on his lips. Keith couldn't help but smile back; Shiro's smiles were contagious. "I think we're done for today. Want to train again tomorrow?" Shiro asked, heading to the door.

 

"I wouldn't have it any other way."


End file.
